NBC’s ‘Voice,’ ‘Blacklist’ Sweep Monday’s Half-Hours in Demos

In its second week back, NBC’s “The Voice” retained nearly all of its premiere-night audience Monday, teaming with “The Blacklist” to sweep the night’s half-hours in key demos. The night also saw upticks for a trio of CBS comedies, Fox’s “The Following” and CW’s “Star-Crossed.”

According to preliminary national estimates from Nielsen, “The Voice” averaged a 4.5 rating/12 share in adults 18-49 and 15.7 million viewers overall from 8 to 10 p.m., down just slightly from the 4.7 and 15.9 million viewers of its week-earlier season premiere; it’s the second highest 18-49 rating for a Monday telecast of the show since Oct. 14 (behind only last week). It fended off CBS’ “How I Met Your Mother,” winning by 2 shares in 18-49, but no other program came within 6 shares of the music contest from 8:30 to 10.

At 10 p.m., “The Blacklist” (2.7/8 in 18-49, million viewers overall) was on the low side of its range but still nearly matched the combined demo scores of the dramas on ABC and CBS. The James Spader drama remains the biggest DVR gainer this season, with three days of playback lifting last week’s episode by 4.7 million total viewers (to 15.9 million from 11.2 million) and by 47% in adults 18-49 rating (4.55 from 3.09).

Elsewhere, Fox didn’t see any upward movement for rookie drama “Almost Human” (1.5/4 in 18-49, 5.6 million total viewers) as it wrapped its first season on par with last week. And at 9, “The Following” edged up (1.7/4 in 18-49, 5.1 million viewers overall) but was third or fourth in most categories for its time period.

CBS opened big with “How I Met Your Mother” (3.3/9 in 18-49, 9.1 million viewers overall) as it entered its final month as Monday’s No. 1 scripted show in key demos despite declines from last week. The rest of the Eye’s comedy lineup gained a tenth week to week: “2 Broke Girls” (2.6/7 in 18-49, 8.4 million viewers overall), “Mike & Molly” (2.2/6 in 18-49, 8.9 million viewers overall) and “Mom” (2.0/5 in 18-49, 8.4 million viewers overall). And “Intelligence” held steady at 10 (1.2/3 in 18-49, 5.3 million viewers overall).

ABC aired the 90-minute “Women Tell All” episode of “The Bachelor” (2.2/6 in 18-49, 7.9 million viewers overall) in advance of the show’s season finale next week, which was down about 12% from the regular two-hour “Bachelor” installment of last week. Following a special repeat of the pilot episode of new Wednesday comedy “Mixology” at 9:30 p.m. (1.1/3 in 18-49, 3.7 million viewers overall), “Castle” closed things out with a second-place finish at 10 (1.6/4 in 18-49, 8.1 million viewers overall).

At CW, first-year drama “Star-Crossed” (0.4/1 in 18-49, 1.2 million viewers overall) grew slightly week to week, followed by “Beauty and the Beast” (0.3/1 in 18-49, 0.8 million viewers overall), which isn’t making much of a case for renewal.